Open AccessUnderstanding intratumor heterogeneity by combining genome analysis and mathematical modeling
Author(s) -
Niida Atsushi,
Nagayama Satoshi,
Miyano Satoru,
Mimori Koshi
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
cancer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.035
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1349-7006
pISSN - 1347-9032
DOI - 10.1111/cas.13510
Subject(s) - computational biology , genome , tumor heterogeneity , cancer , computer science , biology , genetics , gene
Cancer is composed of multiple cell populations with different genomes. This phenomenon called intratumor heterogeneity (ITH) is supposed to be a fundamental cause of therapeutic failure. Therefore, its principle‐level understanding is a clinically important issue. To achieve this goal, an interdisciplinary approach combining genome analysis and mathematical modeling is essential. For example, we have recently performed multiregion sequencing to unveil extensive ITH in colorectal cancer. Moreover, by employing mathematical modeling of cancer evolution, we demonstrated that it is possible that this ITH is generated by neutral evolution. In this review, we introduce recent advances in a research field related to ITH and also discuss strategies for exploiting novel findings on ITH in a clinical setting.